I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to techniques for conducting a handover in a wireless communication system.
II. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication services; for instance, voice, video, packet data, broadcast, and messaging services can be provided via such wireless communication systems. These systems can be multiple-access systems that are capable of supporting communication for multiple terminals by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals. In such a system, each terminal can communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. This communication link can be established via a single-in-single-out (SISO), multiple-in-signal-out (MISO), or a multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) system.
A terminal operating in a wireless communication system can change from the coverage of a first (e.g., source) cell to the coverage of a second (e.g., target) cell using a handover operation. For example, a terminal can initiate communications to request, and subsequently establish, a connection with the target cell during a handover. Subsequently, in order to utilize uplink frequency hopping, properly schedule resources for transmission to the target cell, and/or for other uses, the terminal may require knowledge of various parameters of the target cell. These parameters can include, for example, the system frame number (SFN) of the target cell.
Conventionally, a terminal obtains the SFN of a target cell from a broadcast channel provided by the target cell. However, obtaining the SFN in this manner can cause an appreciable amount of delay, which can result in service interruption to the terminal. Accordingly, it would be desirable to implement techniques for conducting a handover in a wireless communication system that mitigate at least the above shortcomings.